Icing Got You Down? Here's Help

December 19, 2000|By Scott Andera of The Sentinel Staff

Confused about what constitutes an offside pass? Can't figure out what a plus/minus rating is? Having trouble keeping your pets away from the Christmas lights? You've come to the right place -- well, even we can't help with that last one. In the spirit of the holiday season, we've put together a guide that should help answer many of your questions. Here's some rink terminology:

Neutral zone: Sometimes called center ice, it's the area between the two blue lines. Also, the area between two children placed in timeout corners. Slot: The area directly in front of the net between the two face-off circles, where a majority of the goals are scored.

Crease: The half-circle in front of the net that is the goalie's domain, and where supposedly players can't interfere with him.The Basics Periods: Yeah, we know hockey is different. Games consist of three 20-minute periods with 15-minute intermissions between periods. Overtime is sudden-death and lasts up to 5 minutes in the regular season before everyone goes home. But in the playoffs, they go until someone scores -- or suffers frostbite.

Why periods? In the early days of hockey, the game was played in two 30-minute halves, but teams weren't allowed to substitute players like they are now and the ends of each half started to look like I-4 in rush hour. So they changed to three periods to give players more rest.

Face-off: Starting play by an official dropping the puck between opposing players, also known in hockey as a "draw." Face-offs can take place nearly anywhere on the ice, depending on what caused the previous play to stop, except flying octopi in Detroit. In that case, everyone runs for cover and calls in the Coast Guard.

Officials: In the NHL, two referees and two linesemen call the infractions. Most other pro leagues use just one referee. Referees call 99 percent of the penalties, while linesmen take care of calling violations, such as offside, icing, as well as dropping the puck on most face-offs and breaking up get-togethers during games, such as when two heavyweights enter a heated exchange over whose chili recipe is better.

Teams: Six players to a side, usually with a goalie, two defensemen and three forwards. In full-strength situations, this is often called "5-on-5." Goalies are not counted with other skaters. So when you hear a team is in, say, a 5-on-3 power play, they technically are playing 6-on-4, but the goalies aren't included. Yeah, we know. They can't count.

In pro hockey, teams dress 18 skaters and two goalies for games. Traditionally, teams use four "lines" of forwards (left wing, center and right wing on each line), three defensemen pairings, a starting goalie and a reserve. Generally, a line plays together throughout the game except for power-play or short-handed situations. Numbers Game Standings: Teams get two points for a win, one point for a tie and zero for a loss. What's the "RT" column, you ask? Ah, that's the tricky one.

RT stands for regulation ties. It basically goes like this: When a team is tied at the end of regulation, it's guaranteed one point in the standings. If the game ends in a tie after overtime, it's easy: add one to the "T" column. But if a team loses in overtime, the losing team is credited one point and a regulation tie. The winning team gets two points and the win.

This year, the standings were changed so that by adding up wins, losses, ties and regulation ties, the total number of games can be found. Last year, regulation ties were counted as both ties and regulation ties, creating mass confusion. Why? Must be the skates.

Hat trick : This is either wearing one of those circa 1980s mesh-back caps and making it look cool or a player scoring three or more goals in one game.

Plus-minus: One of the most basic statistical measuring sticks, even if it is a bit flawed. Unless a team scores a power-play goal, everyone on the ice for the scoring team receives a plus-1 rating, and everyone on the ice for the team that gave up the goal gets a minus-1 rating. The rating is usually used to determine a player's defensive ability.

PIM: Stands for "penalties in minutes," or simply penalty minutes.

Violators Offside: When a player on the offensive team fully crosses the blue line with both skates before the puck does. If the puck leaves the offensive zone, all players of the offensive team must get back to center ice (clear the zone) before the puck goes back in.

Offside pass: Not just an option to turn off when you play a computer hockey game. Teammates cannot pass to each other across two lines, if one of them is the center line. Yes, it does add more whistles and stops to the game, but there's a reason: It stops teams from parking a forward or two by the blue line.